Fighting Neverland

Photo by Karan Thakkar on Unsplash

I loathe the word “never.” I abhor it. 

Never: at no time; not ever; under no circumstances or conditions 

It seems like such a final word, with no alternatives or options.

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Admittedly, there are positive uses of “never”…

In Hebrews 13:5, where God has promised:

“I will never leave you or abandon you.” (Emphasis mine.)

That’s a good never.

In John 11:25-26, Jesus says to Mary, Lazarus’ sister:

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Emphasis mine.)

That’s another good never.

So… yeah. God has some good uses of “never.”

But down here, in our world? Never can mean a lot of different things from a lot of different people.

I sometimes refer to it as “Neverland” when it seems like I’m surrounded by the word.

But this “Neverland” is not as good as the place that J. M. Barrie dreamed up for Peter Pan.

And I don’t need to find Neverland — I need to fight Neverland.

“You’ll never…”

“Go ahead and buy the insurance policy — you’ll never actually need it.”

I’ve needed it.

“Well, that’s fixed — you’ll never have that problem again.”

I’ve had that problem again.

“Move your prescription to our pharmacy — we never run out or change manufacturers.”

They’ve run out and changed manufacturers.

“This relationship is never going to be what you’d like it to be.”
“You’re a great guy, but…”
“I really care about you, but…”

That never gets easier to hear.

“You’ll never get this team of workers to use that system.”

OK, this one is actually a bit of a fun challenge for me, and one I have a good track record of overcoming.

“I’ll never…”

I have my own “never” statements that I’m guilty of telling to myself:

“I’ll never be a good enough dad (especially on my own).”

“I’ll never find love again.”

“I’ll never find a church where I feel at home.”

Do I know that any of those never statements are true? Definitely not. I can’t see into the future. (Nor do I really want to.)

“Never say never…”

Then there are the old adages:

“Never say never.”

And why do people say that?

“You never what can happen.”

So I guess I’ll never give up. I’ll never stop fighting.

Posted on 2024-04-04